Quick answer:
As long as the payment does not involve fraud (such as with an illegal lottery), there is no law in the U.S. that prohibits sending cash in the mail. But what about sending cash in the mail overseas?
A year ago I tracked down the address of an old friend in Spain. We'd worked together in the early 1960s and I'd just learned he was now living on a very small pension in Zaragosa. Thinking to give him a pleasant surprise, I enclosed some large-denomination euro bills with my letter, stuck a 98-cent stamp on the envelope, and dropped the cash in the mail at our local post office.
Imagine my surprise when I received a letter back from him, chastizing me for including the cash. ("It's against the law here in Spain," he said, "to send currency in the mail. Didn't you know that?")
Actually, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it is NOT against the law to mail cash--assuming as a gift or for a legitimate purpose--from the United States to any other country in the world. If any of you readers know otherwise, do let me know!
What about sending cash from another country to the U.S. or Canada? That depends upon the country. For example, when we lived in Spain under Generalissimo Franco, the Spanish peseta was a blocked currency. That is, it was illegal to send peseta-bills out of the country. A few odd countries still have blocked currencies so in such cases it is indeed illegal to mail cash out of the country.
But for we Americans and Canadians, no such problem exists.
HOWEVER:
Is it safe to send currency in the mail?
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Is it illegal to send cash in the mail?
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It depends. If the mail system in that country is reliable, then it MAY be OK. This is especially true in northern europe (UK, Ireland, Germany, etc). Best move: Ask a KNOWLEDGEABLE (emphasis on that word) US POSTAL WINDOW CLERK or LOOK UP THE POSTAL RULES YOURSELF. Hint: don't ask about cash; instead, ask what is prohibited to send in registered or regular airmail to that country.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, I had a British friend who lived on island of Malta. I asked him to do a bit of research work for me. Thinking to save him the cost and hassle of dealing with a US check or a wire transfer, I sent him some cash. Imagine my surprise when he chastised me (like your friend in Spain). With the possible exception of Chile, I would NEVER try that in Latin America or Italy!
I used to live in Argentina in the years of military dictatorship. My grandfather, who then was living in France would send me a bill of 20 French francs (at that time) every now and then for my birthday, first communion, etc. The envelopes arrived safely, but always emptied of the currency.
ReplyDelete"It's against the law here in Spain," he said, "to send currency in the mail. Didn't you know that?"
ReplyDeleteI felt so sad when I read that. I know people like that. They are rule followers and it makes me sad.
On a related note, I have been threatened by an office manager for having a laminated social security card. She told me it was against the law. It's not.
I have sent cash in the mail (US), but I like to send it registered mail - so I have an independent record that it was received. I have also sent cash to New Zealand, but it was a small amount which I enclosed in a giftcard, so I didn't declare it on a customs form, as I would have had to do if it were in a parcel. My personal policy is "don't send it unregistered if the amount of potential loss will cause pain!"
ReplyDeleteI've sent cash in a bar mitzvah card to Israel on two occasions. Both times the card and cash arrived safely.
ReplyDeleteI have sent cash many times over many years from the US -> US. I receive cash in a bubble mailer every month as well for the last year. Always always always it has arrived promptly and unmolested.
ReplyDeleteIn the last year, I've also sent cash in #9 size envelopes with no tracking from the US to Canada, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, UK, Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Germany, and a few other EU states. All made it just fine. The only places that it did not arrive in were Russia, Finland and Ukraine. They just never got anything or so they claimed.
You may want to take a tip from someone I know. They use this trick to smuggle drinks into stadium games. They get one of those 'meal sealers' that they sell (probably on QVC), where it seals shut plastic bags with heat. The person takes, say a bag of potato chips, unseals the bottom of it, puts the drinks in, reseals it with the seal a meal, and voila, camouflaged. You can get creative and use anything in a bag, or even with cardboard boxes (like with tampons), just re-glue the bottom. That's how my mom smuggled in chocolate bars for me during basic training. I knew the drill sgts would never check that! The sgts said that they would use shoe polish containers to melt chocolate into when they were in drill sgt school (chocolate is good as gold when you're in the service). Anything gross is good, like Preparation H boxes, stuff like that.
ReplyDelete